TAYLOR LAUTNER
Date of Birth: February 11, 1992
Born in Grand Rapids, Michigan, Taylor Lautner began martial arts training when he was six. After winning local tournaments, Taylor won three first place trophies when he competed in his first national karate tournament at age seven. At eight, Taylor was invited to represent the United States for the 12 and under age division for the World Karate Association. Taylor became the Junior World Forms and Weapons Champion, triple gold medal winner.
Because of his talent as a martial artist, Taylor was chosen for a small budget movie about martial arts fighters, Shadow Fury (2001). Bitten by the acting bug, Taylor moved with his family to Los Angeles, where he began landing guest appearances on hit TV series such as The Bernie Mac Show, Summerland and My Wife and Kids. He also performed with the LA Hip Kids, a Hip Hop Dance Performance Group, and Hot Shots, a Jazz dance group.
His second role in a film was playing Shark Boy in the major motion picture The Adventures of Sharkboy & Lavagirl in 3-D (2005), directed by Robert Rodriguez. He gained a huge following of fans after playing Jacob in the Twilight series of movies and although it was rumored that he would be replaced in the sequel, The Twilight Saga: New Moon (2009), his hard work won over producers. He spent hours in the gym to gain enough muscle and weight to play the character, who grows enormously in the second instalment. He also appeared in the rest of the films in the Twilight Saga films—The Twilight Saga: Eclipse (2010), The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 1 (2011) and The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 2 (2012).
In his spare time, Taylor enjoys football and baseball.